By Allen James Fromherz

The Gulf in the 18th century, under the Qasimis of Ras-al-Khayam, emphasized the need to revise Western political and military domination in West and South Asia. The British rule, referred to by a historian as a Pax Britannica, benefitted from its establishment in India and the Gulf. The chapter on Dubai addresses the end of British colonial rule, the shaping of the oil economy, and the emergence of modern states. It provides an analytical overview of modern-day Gulf societies, the creation of their welfare states based on redistributive economies, and their monarchical political systems.


Reviewed by: Azeemah Saleem
By Maj Gen Bipin Bakshi, Air Mshl Rajesh Kumar, Amb Anil Trigunayat, Brig Akhelesh Bhargava

Nuclear signalling has been evident in any period of tension between the two conflict parties. While the Indian nuclear doctrine rests on the pillars of credible minimum deterrence, no first use, and massive retaliation in case of a nuclear weapon attack, Pakistan’s nuclear posture rests on Full Spectrum Deterrence that allows the state to indulge in nuclear sabre-rattling.


Reviewed by: Reshmi Kazi
By Padmini Swaminathan

PLI schemes assume that lowering costs and raising returns will induce firms to invest and expand. Swaminathan cautions that if the institutional terrain remains weak, firms will expand output without changing employment practices or investing in skills. The result is more production, but not necessarily more secure jobs or stronger capabilities. Competitiveness achieved through informality and insecurity may deliver output, but not the social foundations of a mature manufacturing economy. Her essays, therefore


Reviewed by: TCA Ranganathan
Edited by Pritam Singh and Meena Dhanda

The Central Government’s persistent meddling in State affairs under Indira Gandhi’s leadership, the dismissal of the Akali-Janata Party Government, the refusal to return Chandigarh to the State, and the repression of the peaceful Dharam Yudh Morcha, all contributed to the rise of Sikh militancy in the 80s. Chopra highlights the State’s violations of human rights as the security agencies employed coercive tactics to quell militancy. Many of the Sikh youth who sought refuge abroad during the period later developed sympathies for the separatist cause. Shruti Devgan examines the diaspora community’s attempt to digitally create, reconstruct, and revive the horrific memory of the anti-Sikh violence in order to subvert the Indian state’s attempt to erase the hurtful memories of the anti-Sikh pogrom in 1984


Reviewed by: Ashutosh Kumar
By Mohammed Amin. Translated from the original Urdu by Imtiaz Akhtar

Also incarcerated in Rajshahi Central Jail at the time was the legendary peasant leader Ila Mitra—an Olympic-level athlete who had suffered sexual violence and torture in police custody. In prison, Amin studied Marxism, political economy, history of religion and Bengali. He had the responsibility of reading and explaining English newspapers to those who could not read English. Amin used this to improve his command over both English and Bengali—something he put to use after his release by writing an Urdu-Bengali dictionary.


Reviewed by: Indraneel Dasgupta
By Seema Azad. Translated from the original Hindi by Shailza Sharma

Her arrest on 6 February 2010 along with her husband, her incarceration in Naini Central Jail, and the charges brought against her under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA, accusing her of waging war against the state and having Maoist links, do not read like an exceptional episode from the past, especially when one considers how long she remained in prison before being granted bail by the Allahabad High Court.
What is particularly compelling about the diary is that it does not try to turn prison into a site of constant spectacle or heightened drama


Reviewed by: Eshan Sharma